Soulless Hours
by Chimera of Ebony
Summary: Working title, part 2 of Guardian Angel. The story is easier to understand, if you have read Eternal Hours, as it's the continuation. Weird things starts happening in the lair. Rated for future chapters.
1. Beast in the Dark

So, the second installment of the "Guardian Angel" series, though it's only a small prologue. I have told myself to try and make the chapters longer (if I can...). I hope you will like this as much at the last one. And then I will, in advance, say sorry. My keyboard is acting strangely, forgetting some letters as I type. Though I've tried my best to read through the story and find the missing letters, I may have forgotten a few. Bare with me... But enough babbling, but as always:

Enjoy...

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Darkness. Nothing else but darkness all around him. It felt different, but most of all – it felt wrong. Michelangelo wasn't used to this kind of darkness, though what concerned him the most was the lack of sound. It was as if he was standing in some kind of emptiness, like the world had disappeared around him.

"Leo?"

No reply.

"Donnie, Raph? Where are you?"

Still nothing. A knot slowly started forming in Mikey's throat. This wasn't right. Why couldn't anyone hear him, where were they – and were was he? The turtle didn't like to think about it, but he had no clue whatsoever of his whereabouts. He tried calling for his brother's again, when something struck him like lightning.

He couldn't speak! When he tried calling, only air made it out of his mouth.

"_You are trapped," _a little nagging voice laughed, _"No one can hear you, and nobody knows that you're gone…"_

No! No, his brothers would come looking for him, as soon as they figured out something was wrong.

"_If they find out."_ The knot turned bigger. What was it with that 'if'? Of course they would find out. Unless something would stop them from figuring out.

"Wha– what do you mean?" he tried asking, feeling the air leave his throat without a sound. He waited for the reply. Did he really want to know? It felt cold suddenly, even though he couldn't feel any wind. Still no reply. Why wouldn't it just answer him, whatever it was? Suddenly, wind started flying around him, making his bandana and belt move in the wind. As gust blew up in his eyes, he closed them, but soon forced himself to look through the dirt coming at him. The wind increased in strength, making it almost impossible to stand.

"Huh?" Mikey forgot the wind. What was he looking at? The future, or maybe the present? He could see himself walking through the lair, except – it wasn't him. It couldn't be. The figure walking through the Dojo seemed sad and had no life in his eyes.

'_You see?' _it finally spoke, chuckling happily to itself.

"It's not me," Mikey whispered. Maybe it looked like him, but he knew it wasn't.

'_But it is,' _the voice suddenly sounded different, like it was thinking, _'Don't let the faded smile fool you. You just-' _

"What?"

'_You're not yourself.' _Michelangelo sighed in defeat. He wasn't so sure anymore. Maybe it was him… but why was he like that?

"What happened?" he closed his eyes, feeling the wind touch his face. It was gentler now, "Why do I look so – defeated?"

The voice let him alone for some time again, giving him time to take another look at the figure. He didn't just look defeated; he looked like all life had been sucked out of him.

'_Soulless, perhaps?'_

"Perhaps!" Mikey cried, spinning around to try and find the voice, "You mean you don't know?" A sigh came from the voice, wherever it was.

'_Nobody really knows. They are only guessing…'_

They?

Mikey looked back, expecting to see himself again. But instead he saw his brothers talking around the small table in the living room. They looked concerned, and Raph was sitting still in the couch. That was a clear sign, that something was wrong. But he couldn't hear them. Still, he knew I was about him, like when you know someone is talking behind your back.

"I don't want to see more," the turtle whimpered, shutting his eyes, "It's only a dream, I'll wake up soon, I know it."

'_Sometimes,' _the voice replied, _'You need someone to wake you up.'_

Mikey shot his eyes open. He knew that voice. It sounded feminine and rough at the same time.

"Angel, is that you?" he called, trying to locate the feline. A growling sound was heard behind him.

Why had the sound returned? He hadn't heard a damn thing since he got into the darkness, not even his own voice. He wasn't sure, if he should be thankful for finally hearing something, or be afraid…

Slowly, he let his body twist in the direction of the growl. Nothing…

Until something shone in the darkness, something white. It was rushing at him dangerously fast, like a train. But it was too small to be a train. Mikey's muscles tensed, as he saw it coming faster towards him. He was quickly able to see what it was. An animal, or some kind of beast. With a gasp, realization hit him. It was a gigantic wolf that was lunging at him, its white fangs reflecting the light from the image of his three brothers. With a loud roar, it opened its mouth to take a big bite of him as it charged, making Mikey scream in panic.

Now he could hear his voice…


	2. Eyes in the Dark

I apologize for the long await of the continuation of this story, but I've been busy. I am no longer studying - I am officially an Animal Keeper claps wickedly at herself. Ahem, well... There's not much to say, except that I hope I will ave more time for writing now. And as always:

Enjoy...

>>>>

With a loud thud, Mikey landed head first on the floor. Panicked eyes searched the room for his attacker – but there was nothing. He was back in his room, lying on the ground next to his bed in the dark.

"You alright, Mike?" a voice asked from the door. As the youngest turtle looked up, all three of his brothers, along with Angel and their Sensei, were looking at him.

"Who, me?" Michelangelo smiled goofily, trying to hide the panic that had overwhelmed him only seconds ago, "I'm fine, great…" Splinter sighed to himself, knowing too well, that his youngest son wasn't telling the truth. He took two steps into the room, before turning to look at the others.

"I believe you should go back to bed now." And that was all it took for the four teenagers to leave the door and head for their beds, though their low voices could be heard all the way. Splinter closed the door to Mikey's room and slowly walked to sit on the bed. The turtle wrapped himself out of the sheet, he had dragged with him to the floor and sat next to his farther. No words were exchanged between them, as Mikey had focused his gaze on the floor.

"My son," Splinter started, holding a small break in his sentence to look for the turtle's reaction. Mikey didn't seem to respond, but he was listening, "We need to find the source for your nightmares. It has been going on for too long."

"I know," Mikey lowly replied, closing his eyes. The nightmares were coming more frequently to him, which meant almost every night. And it was the same nightmare. Only difference was, that small details seemed to change sometimes. And they seemed so real every time. Though he had been going through that dream over twenty times now, it all left him just as scarred afterwards.

Splinter studied his youngest student with calm eyes, not rushing to get back to his own bed. It could wait.

"Perhaps," the elder rat stood up to look down at Michelangelo, "We should try to meditate again in the morning." Mikey slowly nodded, his mind drifting back to his dream. He was almost so caught up in it, that he didn't hear his Sensei say goodnight and leave the room.

But how was he going to sleep now? Hearing Angel's voice had almost been the scariest thing this night. It hadn't been her voice the last time, it had belonged to something unknown. Could the winged cat be the source to his haunting? Then why hadn't it happened from the first night she moved in, and why was it only him? She was closer to Leo, anyway. The turtle stood up and walked away from the bed. The meditation sessions with Master Splinter hadn't helped at all – he had gotten no reasons and no nights free of nightmares. And it was driving him insane. He plummeted to the ground, burrowing his head in his hands. He was tired, but if he went back to sleep, the beast could try and attack him in his sleep again. If it was able to attack. Donnie had said, that there was no possible way for a figure in a dream to invoke any real damage. Not other than disturbing your sleep. A yawn pushed its way out, as Mikey removed the hands. He would go to bed again and pray that he would be left alone.

Pushing himself up, Mikey yawned again and stretched his arms, before going back to the bed. As soon as his head hit the pillow, he could feel the darkness, the darkness of a calm sleep, take over him. His eyes closed and he slowly drifted off…

"Mikey?"

The turtle literally jumped into the air by the voice. His eyes flew up to look at the surprised Angel beside the bed.

"Sorry," she blinked, handing him a small cup, "I just thought, perhaps you wanted some warm milk." The cat's tail was twitching slightly, as she held the cup out for the turtle to take. At first, Mikey was a bit lost, until he remembered the meaning by it. In the beginning, Angel had had nightmares too.

"_You know," _Mikey had told her one night, _"When we were kids, Sensei always said that warm milk is the best way to shake off nightmares." _And he had handed her a warm cup of milk.

"Oh," Mikey took the offered cup and gave the cat a smile, "You remember that, even though it's over six months ago." He took a gulp of the white, warm liquid. It didn't taste as good as he remembered from when he was a toddler, but he didn't like telling Angel that. After all, she had stayed awake to make it for him. The cat basked a little with her wings, as she studied him.

"Of course I do," she grinned and sat down on the bed. The large tail moved aside to avoid being sat upon. How she remembered to do that every time was still a mystery to Mike. He would probably have forgotten about it…

"I better go back to bed," Angel stated, getting up from the bed. She let out a yawn, making the fangs in her mouth visible. The image of the large wolf from his dream hit him like lightning, as he looked at Angel. What if there was something about it?

'_Michelangelo, you're paranoid,' _he told himself, pushing the newly formed knob in his throat down. No way could the wolf and she be the same. That beast had been huge, at least double the size of the cat. And Angel was not muscular at all. There were absolutely nothing pointing towards her – except for the voice…

Angel folded her hands behind the back. "Stop thinking about it, Mikey. You should rather try to get some hours of sleep." Putting the cup on the desk beside his bed, Mikey nodded without a word. And he was starting to get really tired now.

"Alright," Michelangelo yawned sleepily, pulling the blanket closer around him. He wanted to say goodnight to the feline, and he was about to do so. But all that came out was a muffled snore, as he fell asleep.

Angel silently watched him for a short moment, her smile once again revealing the large fangs. Her head wandered from the sleeping turtle to the door. Good, she was alone. Both Splinter and the other turtles had gone to bed, leaving her as the only one awake. She looked back at Mikey again with glowing eyes, slowly approaching him. She wasn't going to wake him up. With careful steps, she sneaked closer to the bed, not stopping before she was right over him…


	3. Mysteries

Alright, on to the next chapter. Nothing much to say, really. But as always...

Enjoy...

>>>>>>

"What the-" Mikey starred up at the round, feathered thing above him. It had to be a joke by one of his brothers. He slowly sat up in the bed, his eyes still focusing on the object. Well, when studying it… perhaps he had actually seen that before. Or, not exactly that one, but something very close to it. Carefully, he let a green finger touch one of the white feathers that was attached to it. It was Angel's. So whatever the others had been up to, the cat had participated. He stood up and was about to take the weird thing down, but decided against it. It was actually pretty, though no bigger than his hand – whatever it was…

Michelangelo skidded down the hall, until he reached the living room. Master Splinter sat quietly in his usual chair, reading a book. His keen senses weren't slow to recognize the sound of his youngest son coming close, though. His head arose as soon as he had finished the page he was currently on and looked to the ninja not far away.

"Good morning, my son," he greeted him with a sly smile on his face, "Did you sleep well?" The rat closed the book and placed it carefully in his lap, like he was finished with it. Mikey knew that wasn't the case. His Sensei did close the book without leaving anything to show what page he had reached, but he always found the exact same page the next day. He had always done that. Perhaps it was from when they were kids and constantly making trouble, Splinter had learned to just close it, take care of the problems and head right on to wherever he had gotten. An amused grin lit Mikey's face, as he thought about it. Four boys – what a task.

"Yeah, actually," Mike started, but traced off again. The nightmare hadn't returned, when he had gotten back to sleep and he hadn't even woken up, as one of his brothers had put up the round feather-thingy. "I did… By the way, where are the others?"

Splinter opened his book again and turned his gaze back to the black letters.

"Leonardo is training in the Dojo and Raphael…" Splinter looked up from his book and Mikey slowly followed his gaze, quickly eyeing Raph punching the practice dummy to a pulp.

"As for Angel," Splinter continued, "You can find her in Donatello's laboratory along with your brother." Mikey nodded to himself and bowed lightly to the rat.

"Thanks Sensei," he smiled and steered towards Raph.

The red masked turtle didn't stop his beating, as Mikey came up to him. He delivered a side kick to the dummy's "face" and planted the next kick right in the middle.

"Yo Raph?" Mikey tried to contact his brother, but he knew Raphael wouldn't stop. He never did.

"Yeah?" a fist was punched into the dummy, and another one quickly followed. Mikey looked at his brother's rapid hits.

"Are you the one who put that round feathered thing on my wall?" Suddenly, Raph stopped in the middle of a hit, looking dead serious at hit little brother. Raph's hand slowly rose to Mike's forehead, but the orange cladded turtle pushed it away.

"Cut it out," Mikey snorted, taking a step back to get out of reach of the hand again, "I'm telling you, there's a weird thing on my wall." Raph cocked an eye ridge and crossed his arms, studying Mikey for a time. They both eyed each other, until Raph broke the silence, a smirk spreading on his face.

"Ya' sure ya' sane, Mikey?" he grinned mockingly. But it was clear he didn't know anything about it. Mike let out a defeated sigh and turned away, not having a good reply.

"Fine," he simply muttered, "I'll ask someone else." After only a few steps, he could hear Raph return to the dummy. So who else could it be? Leo wouldn't just hang up such a thing just to go on his nerves and Splinter wouldn't do it without him knowing. So hat left out Angel and Don… whatever purpose Don would have for doing it. The turtle headed for the lab, and found both the feline and his brother there, just like Splinter had said.

The two of them looked up to see who entered. Donnie was sitting by the computer as usual, while Angel stood behind him to look at the screen as well. The end of her tail was moving slowly from one side to the other.

"Hey Sleeping Beauty," Don grinned, turning his head back to the computer.

"Would any of you know about that round thing in my room?" Mikey cut right to the chase. His curiosity was starting to kill him.

"It's a dream catcher," Angel smiled and stretched from standing bend over behind Donnie, "You like it?"

Mikey just stood there, a little perplexed. A dream catcher?

"When did you hang it on my wall?" Mikey asked, still with the same look on his face. Angel's smile just turned bigger, as she let a giggle out.

"Last night, of course. You fell asleep before I even turned around to leave the room."

"She's been dying to hang that thing up for days," Donnie cut in, turning away from the monitor to look at his brother, "And she's been bugging me for weeks to try and help her make it." Donnie sounded a bit irritated, but he couldn't hide the smile. The cat had seen it in one of his books, while scavenging for information in his lab. There hadn't been one second of peace, until Donnie had explained exactly what it was, how it worked and so on and so forth.

"She's just as much of a pain in the ass as you," Donnie laughed, not looking up at Angel's surprised face. She blinked a couple of times before putting her hands on her hips in a very offended way.

"I am not," she protested and stuck her tongue out, making both Mike and Don laugh. The winged cat would never have a longer tongue than Raph, but it was dangerously close, "I'm going out to practice with Leo." She gave both of them a quick wink of an eye, before turning to leave the small lab. A silence fell on the room, and Don turned back to the computer to finish whatever he was tingling with.

"I think she likes you."

Donnie slowly cocked an eye ridge at Mikey, not looking amused.

"It's no me," Donnie calmly stated. He ha no interests in Angel "liking" him like that. It would be unnatural, "She likes the books." Mikey's eyes fell on the pile of books Angel had been looking through – and apparently still weren't finished with. Mikey slowly looked over them, but was only able to see what some of them were about. It weren't the books Donnie read, at least not anymore. These were probably from when he was younger and didn't have the same knowledge that he possessed today. And there weren't that much order in them. Some were about ancient cultures, some about… well, technical stuff and so on.

"You know," Donnie's voice cut through the trance Mikey had placed himself in, looking at the books, "I don't get it. She's been locked in by the Shredder for as long as she can remember, but she can read. And on a somewhat decent level." The purple masked turtle stood up from the chair, stretching from being stuck behind the screen for probably several hours. He walked over to take some of the books, placing them on the shelves again.

"Perhaps Shredder taught her stuff," Mikey suggested, but Donnie shock his head.

"Then how come she didn't even know what a car was?" Don turned around, scratching his chin thoughtfully, "She knew basic things, like reading and writing, but nothing about common technology. She had never even seen a PlayStation." He sat down on the chair again, but his mind was still working. "And she knows martial arts…" Donatello and Angel had spent many days in the small lab. He had worked with his usual projects and she had been reading like a maniac, like she was trying to learn about all the things that had somehow slipped past her. And he had listened to her over the weeks. About how she had been treated in the small cell throughout… Angel had no idea of how long she had been there, living in the dirty room. But somehow, she had lost her memories. She could remember who she was, but not who she were. It was all an unsolved mystery, with far too many questions along the way.

And he didn't know what she was. It was clear that she had some cat DNA in her, but the wings were another matter. It would seem that she consisted of bird DNA too, but perhaps there were other animals involved. Still, Angel had refused to let him take a blood sample, though he had desperately tried to talk her into it. Heck, he even had trouble stitching her wound from when they had saved her. Of course, she was obviously afraid of needles, but she didn't know why. Another mystery.

"Not that much," Mikey grinned, "I can easily beat her." Donnie was caught a bit off guard. Oh, martial arts! Well, Mikey was right, she wasn't at their level. She still had a lot to learn, but Leo had more than gladly accepted to help her practice.

Suddenly, the light went out, leaving the two turtles in complete darkness.

"No!" Donnie's head flew towards the computer – but alas, it was dead. Hours of work, and he couldn't remember when he had saved. With a growl, he stood up and headed out, finding the rest of the lair just as black. A candle was lit not far away, and it's flame illuminated the area around their Sensei.

"It would seem there are problems with the lights again," Splinter simply stated, looking towards Donatello. It had happened a lot lately, way too often to be normal.

"I don't get it," Donnie frowned, "Something is causing the whole system to break down." And he had tried searching for whatever was causing the meltdown, without luck every time. "I'll check it out… again."

"You think our lair is haunted?" Mikey asked the rat, as Don went off to try and get the electricity back up, "I mean, weird things happen. The power dies, the bathtub fills itself…" And an omelette had exploded into his face, but he weren't going to mention it. When everybody had calmed down from hearing his girly scream and rushing to the kitchen, his brothers had been lying on the floor laughing their shells off.

"There's no such thing as ghosts," Raph rolled his eyes, as he came from behind. Leo and Angel were right behind him, "Besides who should haunt it, Shredder?"

"Don't even mention it," Angel snickered, crossing her arms. The thought alone of the Shredder coming back was scary enough, but a ghost Shredder? She could still remember the sickening crack from when Leo broke his neck.

"But-" Mikey protested, when the lights turned back to life. The young ninja's thoughts were directed towards other matters, when he could suddenly see his brother.

"Dude, what happened to you?" Mikey gestured to Leo's plastron, pointing at what would surely become a blue mark in the near future.

"It wasn't on purpose," Angel muttered, looking down at the floor. She looked like a kid caught with her hand in the cookie jar, as her tail started rocking from side to side and finally found rest around her legs. The eyes around them were directed at Leo and Angel, though the turtle didn't seem like he found it so bad.

"Sure it was," he grinned a bit, "You're supposed to hit your opponent when fighting." But he hadn't been focusing enough, and it was irritating him. How else would the cat have been able to get through his defence?

"It is quite a hit, Angel," Splinter studied his son and the mark.

"Yeah, it's been a hard one, huh?" Raph smirked, seeing the annoyance in Leo's eyes.

"I didn't mean to, honestly," Angel shot her head up to look at Raph, "I wasn't supposed to hurt him." Leo placed his hand on the feline's shoulder, giving her a reassuring smile.

"It's alright," he grinned, "I'm still alive. So we'll let it rest and get some lunch."

Mikey's heart skipped a beat, looking at his brother with wide eyes.

"Lunch?"

"Yeah," Raph replied, "It's 1 p.m. You've been sleepin' the whole day away…"


	4. Lost it

Hehe, it's great to see that I still have a few people reading my fanfics. It's worth all the writing, especially when you think that I only have the time to write at night. Work is taking all of my time at day at the moment, as I have just recently started in my new job. There's so many things I still need to learn, I guess. But now it's past midnight, and I'm tired. But this time, you get little closer as to what the fic is centered about. And as always:

Enjoy...

>>>>>>

With an annoyed growl, Raphael turned off the TV. It was so boring today. They had finished lunch not too long ago, and were now trying to find things to occupy their time with. Leo was sitting meditating with Splinter, while Mikey and Angel had stuck their noses into a gigantic pile of comics in Mikey's room. As for Don… The turtle was trying to find the cause of all the problems in the lair, like he had done several times before – to no avail.

The red masked turtle stood up to head for a glass of water, but a quick look towards his older brother and sensei made him stop. It wasn't only the sight before him. It was also the tension in the air that told Raph that something wasn't right. Leo had lost focus on his meditation a long time ago, and was desperately trying to regain it.

"Leonardo, I believe a break is in order," Master Splinter sighed, rising from the floor to walk for his own private domain. However, Leo only opened his eyes and held them fixed on the floor, until the rat was gone.

"You alright, Leo?" Raph walked to his brother slowly, giving Leonardo some space to breathe. All the years together had told Raphael how to approach his brothers – though the opposite couldn't always be said.

A silence held the air until Leo closed his eyes again, as if he was trying to meditate again.

"I don't understand," he paused, as a three-fingered hand reached to touch the soar mark on his plastron, "I… It feels like I'm loosing it, Raph."

Raphael blinked, sitting down beside his brother.

"Loosin' what?"

"My focus. I can't concentrate when meditating, nor fighting." Leo looked at the turtle beside him, trying to find the right words to describe his feelings, but it was harder than one could imagine.

"Chill bro," A hand fell upon Leo's shoulder, "Maybe ya just need a small break, like Sensei said." Abruptly, Leo pushed the hand off his shoulder and stood up, looking down at Raph.

"It's not like that," he hissed, making his brother freeze, "I can't explain it, but something is not right. I-" Without finishing his sentence, Leo stomped off to the Dojo without looking back, leaving Raphael alone in the large room, still doubt founded by the events. How long had it been like this? It had been some time since everything in the lair had started to act crazy, but when had Leo changed? Maybe Raph just hadn't noticed, but it couldn't have happened in one night. Finally getting up, Raph felt an urgent need for fresh air. Without waiting for permission, he headed out the door and into the sewer lines that combined the system beneath Manhattan and climbed up to the surface.

The cold hitting him instantly as he opened the manhole cover made him smile. Winter was coming quickly, but it was still way too early to even think about snow. Jumping out, Raph gently placed the cover back in its place and headed up a nearby fire escape to make it to the top of the building, bringing him closer to the cold breeze awaiting him. It was almost like being hit by the water from a cold shower. But of course, without the water. His mind felt eased, as he looked out over the horizon, when finally reaching the top. It was peaceful. Not even a police siren could be heard in the distance. Raphael sat down on the edge, placing his head resting on a closed fist. What was going on? His mind slowly drifted off, as he watched the cars beneath him head each way. People were on their way home from work, probably having a family waiting for them. They would have the dinner ready in less than an hour, and would use the rest of the evening to try to forget the bad moments of the day and try to make the good ones last for as long as possible in their memories. A small smile lit his beak by the thought. The people didn't know how lucky they were, being normal and stuff.

His thoughts were pushed aside, as the shell cell suddenly went off. Raph quickly answered it, remembering that no one actually knew that he had left the lair. Well, guess they found out.

"Hey Raph," Don replied in the other end of the line, not sounding like anything was wrong, "Think you could help me get something at the junk yard?"

"Well, yeah. Sure," Raph stated, "I'll meet ya there." He hung up, looking up at the sky. The clouds above him didn't look the best, but hopefully it wouldn't start raining until they had gotten home again. Raph got up and started sprinting towards the junkyard, flying over the edges as he leaped from each building. It didn't take long, before the junk yard was in sight, and the Battle Shell could soon be seen driving through the open gates. Raph smirked and sped up, reaching the area in no time. Don was standing outside the vehicle watching him, as he landed firmly on the cold ground.

"Yo Don," Raph smiled, brushing the dust off his hands, "What was it you needed help with?" His brother gestured for him to follow, leading him to an old wreckage of some sort of vehicle.

"I found it yesterday, while looking for new parts," Donnie explained stopping by it. It looked almost like a van, but perhaps a tan more slim lined, "I really want that engine, but it weighs too much for me to carry it alone." A sly grin spread on Raphael's beak, as he eyed Donnie, who looked back with a cocked eye ridge.

"What?"

"Ya just brought me along to carry the heavy stuff, huh?" Raph snickered and crossed his arms.

"Well, yeah," Don couldn't hold the amused smile back, "It's what you do best…" The two turtles starred at each other, until Raph broke out of his standing position and walked past Don to get to the front of the trashed vehicle. No words were needed for Don to know, that Raph accepted the reason for him to be there, and the older turtle usually didn't say no to help carrying the heavy objects. It was a little like weightlifting, Raph had once stated. Don adjusted the strap on the bag he had with him and followed his brother, who had already opened the hood to look down at the engine. Don just needed to get it out, as it was attached to the car with different bolts and wires. Don placed the bag on the ground, jumping out to start take off the wires. Raph looked down to study his brother working. Usually, it wouldn't have taken Don that long to get the wires off, but perhaps it was just a bit rusty? When finally done, the purple masked turtle looked over to the bag.

"Raph, hand me the – ehm…" Don paused, scratching his chin. Raph's eyes followed Donnie's gaze, seeing a small piece of metal sticking up from the bag.

"Screwdriver?" Raph asked.

"Yeah, that one."

"Don," Raph sighed, "Ya can't use a screwdriver to get the engine out." Donatello blinked with a perplexed look in his eyes, like realisation hit him like lightning.

"What's happening around here?" Raph looked at Donnie, "First Leo's acting weird, and now you?"

"What's going on with Leo?" Donnie asked, making Raph pause.

"You mean you haven't noticed?" Raph's voice proved how dead serious the turtle was. He was actually starting to get worried for his brothers, "He's acting like he has forgotten all we've learned from Master Splinter. He was even worse than Mikey was when he was five, when he and Sensei meditated. And now you don't even know how to use your tools? When did that happen, Donatello?"

Donnie stopped breathing, looking like he had been stabbed in the back with Raph's sai.

"I – had hoped no one would notice," Donnie sighed, turning his face away, so he wouldn't look Raph into the eyes, "Even when I have tried to find the course to the power cuts, and all the other unusual things going on in the lair, I guess that…" Donnie heaved a large sigh, still not daring to look at his brother. Don felt so ashamed, "I had no clue of what to do, or where to begin."

Raph was speechless. It was the same with Leo all over again.

"Don, I'm sure there's a reason for-"

When Donatello looked up, Raph was caught mid sentence and couldn't continue. The pain in Don's eyes was a new sight to him. Perhaps if he had been with him and Mikey on that fateful night when they had found Angel, he would have seen something similar or maybe even worse, but he hadn't been there.

"No," Don hissed, "I'm slowly loosing my touch. I have done this for so many years, and now it's slipping away from me. I managed to hold it down in the beginning, but now I can't even get the power back up. Every time it has returned, it hasn't been me…"

"Don, stop." Raph raised a hand to stop his brother from going on, "We need to talk with Splinter about this, it ain't right." Raph dragged his brother with him to the Battle Shell, though Don tried to protest.

"What about the engine?"

"I'll come get it later," Raph simply stated, pushing Don into the passenger's seat and positioned himself behind the steering wheel, "Right now, we're goin' home."


	5. A Family Meeting

First, I'll say sorry to all those of you who actually still follows this story. My finished education as an animal keeper left me without a job or other income, so I had to spend too much time trying to find a job, and when I did, I used the exact same time on working like crazy. But to give some good announcements, I've started school again. It may sound crazy, since I already have a full education, but I wanted more. So, I've started again, in hopes of either getting into a university to study zoology in two years or perhaps something else - only time will tell. But I haven't forgotten the story, I've just been held as slave by my job (which I still have, only part time). So if you're still out there,

Enjoy...

A deadly silence was present in the Battle Shell, as Raph parked it in the old abandoned warehouse. The turtle jumped out, looking back to see if his brother was doing the same. But Donatello was still sitting in the passenger's seat, looking down.

"Don?" Raph tried getting his brother's attention, but all he got back was a sigh, "C'mon bro, you can't sit here all day…" Finally, Don turned his head to look at Raph. He was only trying to help, Don knew that. But right now, he still wished that Raphael had never found out, that he had never come along to the junk yard. But perhaps it was for the best. And still, Donatello's pride was hurt.

"I'll come in a minute," Don mumbled just loud enough for Raph to hear. There was nothing to do. Raph turned around to walk to the "elevator" in the floor and stepped in, seeing Don and the Battle Shell disappear as the capsule closed around him and started taking him downwards.

What now? How was he going to explain all this to Splinter? Raphael let out a frustrated growl, slamming his fist hard into the side of the glowing walls in the capsule. He barely heard a crystal break and the small pieces falling to the floor, as he retrieved his hand. Finally the doors opened, letting him gaze into an almost empty lair. Raphael's eyes scanned the area, not finding anything but a lit candle standing on the table by the TV's. But light was illuminating the doors to his Sensei's room, giving clue of his rat master's whereabouts. Raph walked to the sliding doors with confident steps, but how he wished that he could be as calm inside as outside. He knocked on the door, hearing the "enter" coming from within. He breathed out before opening the door and stepping in to the perfectly decorated room, seeing his Master sitting on the carpet meditating.

"Something is troubling you, my son," Splinter opened his eyes to look up at the turtle and gestured for Raph to sit before him.

"Well," Raph tried finding the words, as he sat down with the legs pushed under him, "I don't know how to put it, but – Leo and Don's been acting, well weird lately." Raphael told Splinter about both the incident with Leo after their training session and about Don in the junk yard. All the time, Splinter's eyes rested on his son's face as he listened. Raphael looked plagued by the incidents, and perhaps for a good reason. Things didn't seem right.

"Raphael," Splinter replied, when his son had finished, "I believe there are more to this than what we can see. I have felt-"

"TAKE IT BACK!"

Both Splinter and Raph jumped in surprise, as Mikey's cry echoed through the lair. Raph was the first to get up and tore the doors open, seeing Mikey throw Angel to the ground with fierce force, like they were in a battle.

"Cut it out," Angel hissed, trying to push Mikey off, "It was nothing but a joke!"

"What is the meaning of this?" Splinter demanded, as he rushed to the two teenagers on the floor. It was clear that their struggle wasn't a play.

"Enough of this!" Splinter cried, sending his walking stick in between the cat and the turtle to pry them off each other. Both opponents stopped, gasping for air after the fight and slowly moved away from each other.

"Michelangelo, I demand to know what caused this ruckus." At first, Mikey didn't respond. His eyes were still focused on the feline, whose tail was waving madly from side to side.

"She started," Mikey hissed, "She called me a bonehead." Splinter blinked a bit, looking at him.

"I believe she has called you 'bonehead' many times before," Splinter calmly stated, "Just like you have always call her 'furball', am I correct?" The word-fight had excisted for months. It was Mikey and Angel's way of talking to each other and it was always followed by a playful fight afterwards. It was their way of being childish, Splinter had always figured, but they meant each other no harm by it… or usually they didn't. Mikey eyes softened a bit, but it didn't last for long.

"That's not the point," he objected, crossing his arms angrily, but Splinter held up a hand to silence Mikey.

"You may go to your room." And that was all it took for Mikey to turn around and leave, obviously more than gladly. Both Splinter and Raph looked after him, as he stomped away, mumbling curses under his breath.

"What happened?" Raph turned to look at Angel. Her tail was slowing down, and it was now only the tip that twitched from one side to the other.

"Wish I knew," she sighed, "He's been acting differently."

There it was again – acting differently than usual, just like Leo and Don. Raph really wanted to know what was happening, but none of it made sense in any way. Splinter thought about the situation carefully.

"This requires a family meeting," the rat replied, "I will get Leonardo and Michelangelo. Raphael, if you would find your brother?" With that, Splinter followed Mikey, leaving his students alone. Angel walked to the couch and sat down, but Raph was soon in her tail.

"Yo, Angel," Raphael sat beside her, "What exactly happened?" The cat looked at him thoughtfully, her brown eyes catching the light from the candle. They turned to look like amber in the dim light.

"We were just sitting reading comics," she slowly began, "When he threw the comic over his shoulder, saying they were 'boring'…"

"He what?" Raph blinked. That wasn't like Mikey, especially not the part about throwing the comic. The young turtle had most of his comic books placed in plastic bags and he treated them like his personal treasure.

"It's true. And today was the first time I heard him laugh for days now." Raph was speechless. Whatever was causing these drastic changes in his brothers' personality, it hadn't happened to him. Or had it? Raph tried thinking back. What if he had changed too somehow? But he couldn't point at anything in particular. He was still focused on his training and… well, what else was there to think about, that could have changed?

"I heard what happened?" Donatello's voice came from behind, as the turtle placed his arms to lean on the back of the couch. Raph and Angel looked up to see the turtle behind them.

"I heard everything…" Don trailed off, not looking at either his brother or his friend. It could seem like he was thinking the situation over, but the truth was farther apart – Don was hating himself for not being able to solve the problem. Of course there was a logical reason, there always were. But it still didn't pop into place. Donatello heaved a sigh, making eye contact to Raph. But he didn't say anything, though it was clear that many thoughts were somehow shared between them.

Angel looked away to see Splinter walk into the living room part of the lair with Leo and Mikey behind him. The old rat moved to his usual sitting point on the floor, though on a part higher than where Leo and Mikey sat, and that both Don and Raph walked towards now. It was the usual "meeting place", it seemed, whenever something important was being discussed or during meditation and training of the mind. The feline stood up as well, following to sit on the mat on the floor. The only difference was that Splinter didn't sit down. He stood on the stone floor, looking down at his four sons sitting with their gaze turned to him, while he waited for Angel to have found a spot to sit as well. With a cough he finally sat down, placing the walking stick across his legs.

"My sons," Splinter started, never correcting himself though Angel definitely didn't fit into the foretold category. It was how he had addressed them for the past sixteen years, as it was more a habit than anything else, "There seems to be something troubling you all. Care to explain what is going on?" The old eyes looked from one turtle to the other, but none of them seemed to look back. The three of them were ashamed of their behaviour and the two others just didn't know what to say. Well, what a good start…

"Raphael, would you please start?"

This caused the turtle to look up directly at Splinter with a more than surprised look on his face. All eyes were directed at Raphael, while he desperately tried to find something to say.

"Wha', me?" he finally got out, the looks still plastered to him. Raph's eyes went from his brothers, to Angel and back to Splinter.

"Will you tell me that nothing has been happening to you, my son?" Splinter held his gaze on Raph, who only seemed to turn more surprised by this.

For a moment, Raph doubted if he really hadn't tried to hide something, or maybe keeping something down. No, he hadn't. He was just like always, he hadn't lost focus or forgotten the names of tools or how to use them or lost interest in what he cared about. He was normal, it was his brothers who were having a problem.

"Raphael?"

"I'm fine, get it?" Raph hissed, making everyone else in the room hold their breath. Raphael was a hot head, but he wasn't as disrespectful as to sneer at their Sensei in such a way. And he knew that too. Raph had held his breath for a second too, when he had heard himself. Splinter had taught him – or at least made an improvement – to keep his temper down. And now the rat just watched him, how the temper had giving the cheeks of the teenager a reddish flare.

"I- eh…" Raph stammered, looking down at the ground. He had had these outbursts in front of his brothers, but never his father. Well, that wasn't quite true. As a child, he had been so furious that he spitted foam and Splinter had tossed a glass of water in his face to get him down. He had once attacked Mikey in blind rage too and if his family hadn't stopped him- He didn't dare think of the consequences. It was something that wasn't supposed to happen. But he thought he had had it completely under control now. He should have.

"That is enough," Splinter stopped him and got up, "I do not know why you are all behaving as you do, but I know you should be able to control it." Harsh as his words did sound, he didn't mean it in such a hard way. None of the five looked up to face him.

Splinter continued: "What ever is happening, it must have a source. I am here to help, my sons, do not ever forget that." With that, the rat turned to leave for his room. He needed to think about what was happening, and what the possible reason could be. Yes, his sons were only teenagers, giving their flaws – but this was different. Splinter had noticed a change in all of them, like they were turning more inwards. Slowly, but steadily, he was loosing the grip on them. He sighed. Perhaps they were even loosing the grip on themselves. He looked at a small picture of a man. His master. If it hadn't been for the tragic events so many years ago, would his Master Yoshi have had the same trouble? Splinter doubted it. Sitting down on a futon, the elderly ninja concentrated. He could hear the ruffled sound of his sons finally standing up from the floor, leaving their backs to one another and go in different directions, never uttering a word to each other…


	6. A Little too Loud

The lair was quiet, as the four turtles and the cat sat with their eyes focused on the red carpet, as the rat disappeared behind the doors to his chamber. None of them knew exactly what to say or do. Raph was the first to break the silence by getting up and marching directly towards his room with a steady pace. Slowly, his three brothers started to get up as well, all walking in different directions without even looking at each other. Angel watched them part, heaving a small sigh. Whatever was happening, it had started with her coming into the picture. Hadn't it? This was nothing like when she had first met them. They had been a family, but now they were more or less feeling like they were on their own – or so it seemed. If only she could somehow reach their minds and try to read what was going on. And still… perhaps she wasn't supposed to know, if it was a "guy's thing", but she highly doubted it. Boys couldn't possibly be that complicated. When she was alone in the large room, Angel stood up looking around. It was a little too quiet for her taste. She walked to the TV screens and sat down in the old, worn out couch, crossing her arms over her chest and drawing her legs up along with her tail. A piece of white paper laid next to her in the couch, along with a pen. A furry hand reached down to pick both the paper and the pen, bringing it up for a closer inspection. It wasn't many months ago, that Mikey had tried to teach her how to draw comics. But as Donnie had pointed out the same day, perhaps Mikey was the wrong teacher… His doodles weren't the best. In fact, the sai he had tried to print down on the paper looked more like an oversized fork than a weapon. And then there were her own drawings, pushed in between Mikey's masterpieces. They weren't that bad, really. In the left corner, there was still some space left and it didn't take long for the pen to reach the corner and start drawing on it.

Donatello looked down on one of his old devices in the small lab, he had installed in the lair in the old subway wagon. At this moment, he wasn't really sure what the device had been invented for. Sad, but true. It was something that he really never had found a fitting purpose for. And therefore, it had stayed in the lab for better times. It was about four months ago, that he had started building it, but as he was starting to lose whatever was keeping him going on his science, he had forgot the meaning behind it. He lifted it up. At first, it just resembled a black box, nothing more. A lid was placed on the side of it, making room for some sort of containment – but what? It was put down rather roughly, the sound of metal hitting the wooden table ringing through the part of the lair Don was in. Why couldn't he remember anything? What was happening? He knew that it had a logical explanation, just like everything else. And the fact that his brothers were having trouble of their own should probably trigger something, but no matter how hard the turtle tried, he couldn't think of anything. His eyes went up to see Angel sitting in the other end of the lair, her golden eyes catching his for a second, before they were brought down again. He had probably startled her, when he had slammed the box down into the table. Stupid cat.

'_No, it's not her fault,' _Don promptly told himself, not sure how he could think this way of the feline. She was his friend. But at the moment, everything just seemed to irritate him. Don closed his eyes, taking a series of deep breaths. He wasn't himself. He hadn't been for too long. Why was it that he hadn't consulted his brothers or his own sensei, when he felt like everything was slipping away from him? Because he was afraid? Or because he deep down didn't have faith in them? He opened his eyes again, and fixed them on the box. He had to try and figure out what it was for?

Darkness suddenly surrounded him, making him flinch. He couldn't see a thing.

"Don!" Raph's voice echoed through the lair, as the light from a candle emerged from behind a corner. That damn electricity had died on them again.

"I thought you had it fixed," Raph stood in the doorway from the dojo, holding the small candle. Splinter had placed them everywhere after the shut downs had grown more rapid.

"Alright, I'm on it," Donatello frowned, catching a flashlight on the table and turned it on. Grabbing a bag of tools on the way out of the lair, Don didn't think about the fact that he was probably the one least capable of handling the problem with electricity at the moment. Fixing these bugs was _his _job, and his brothers counted on it. The purple masked turtle stepped out of the lair, happy to finally be alone for at least a short while.

He soon reached the cabin of wires, that controlled the electricity flow to the lair and the rest of New York – and as always, he couldn't find any problems. Rubbing his templates, he took one look at it again. These power failures would have been logical, if a rat had gnawed on the wires, but they were all intact. And if they were having problems, at least some of New York should have had these problems too, which they hadn't. April had informed him, that they hadn't had one power failure for the past half year. And surprisingly, Don had lost count on their black outs.

Don rubbed his head again. A headache was starting to build up in his head, slowly growing bigger. It wasn't the first time. They were coming more often as well, growing in intensity each time. He let out a frustrated growl, slamming the cabin door shut before he decided on walking back to the lair. But he stopped right before the entrance, right until he could see light suddenly pop up in the lair again. Just like it always did. He entered, turning off the flashlight as he placed the bag where it belonged.

A small cough made Don turn to look next to him, looking down at the old rat.

"Did you find the source of the power failures, my son?" Splinter asked, his hands placed on his back. Don grimaced a bit.

"Weren't you meditating?" Don retorted without thinking, suddenly hearing his own words slip out. That hadn't been what he meant. It sounded so rude to let it out that way.

Splinter blinked a bit. He had only been in his room for meditation for perhaps fifteen minutes. That had to be a record for his fastest meditation ever.

"To be honest, Donatello, I have found it quite hard to meditate lately." Don turned around, studying his master. How could he find it hard to meditate? It was what he did almost every day. Well, this was different. But if Splinter had felt something was wrong just like the rest of them, why hadn't he said anything?

"Perhaps," Splinter continued, "We should find ourselves a more neutral place. It seems to me our home is starting to hold a scent of disruption." Don wasn't quite sure how his father's words were meant to be understood, but the rat was right somehow. There was a tense feeling in the lair, and the feeling was filling the space of the small sewer lair. But a neutral place? Were they supposed to move out?

Splinter could see the questions in Donatello's eyes, and he really wanted to tell him that he had already planned what they were supposed to do. But to simply go out and find a new training ground isn't easy, when you're a mutant. The right place needed to be picked carefully, as it could be their home for perhaps a long time, until things were turning back to normal. If Don hadn't been so under the weather, maybe he had had a good place in mind, but he didn't. And that only made him more frustrated.

"I guess you're right, sensei," Don simply replied. He somehow didn't care that much. He just wanted things to be normal again. His eyes shut up, as he saw Leo come into the living room and sat down in the couch next to Angel, who was still trying to push a drawing or two into the few areas of the paper that was still white. Leo had turned on the TV's, watching the news. A blond woman was talking about how the weather was starting to get worse after a pretty warm summer. The meteorologists expected it to rain a lot this fall. Without anything better to do, Don found his way to the chair standing next to the couch and sat down, letting his eyes fall over his brother and the winged cat. Angel's wings were pressed against the back of the couch, though the higher parts of her wings were free from the pressure of the furniture. So they were clearly all bored, something that a game of chess could have cured easily at least for the two of them. But both he and Leo had avoided any contact with the chess board lately. It reminded them too much of the fact, that both their concentration and their logical thinking were nothing like what it had been. And in the meantime, Angel had gotten the upper hand. Don hadn't really helped her that much with that dream catcher. It was only a few months ago, when Angel had demanded an explanation for the weird thing, that Don had told her the basics. And suddenly, Don's mind raced. Angel hadn't gotten unfocused – it was the exact opposite. She was pulling in more information in such a short time than he had expected her to. But she had changed a bit, though he couldn't pinpoint exactly how – but she definitely had. She still seemed rather insecure to him, perhaps a bit afraid of doing things the wrong way.

"Leo, could you turn down the sound a bit." Donatello was dragged out of his thoughts at the sound of Angel's voice. Leo's eyes went from the TV to the feline, looking her in the eyes.

"It's not very loud," he protested, not even motioning for pressing the button on the remote.

"Well, I think it is," the feline tried again, but it didn't seem like she was making a clear enough point. Leo's finger still laid motionless on the remote in his hand, as his eyes were still fixed on her. Their eyes seemed to fight for the winning position, as none of them looked away or blinked.

Well, it wasn't loud. The sound was pretty moderate to Don, perhaps even a nudge lower than it usually was. The ninja blinked, seeing that the psychological war was still raging between them. Weird, since they had seemed like something close to best friends after Angel had followed them home.

"Geez Leo, just turn down the volume," Don sighed, making both the cat and the turtle look at him with weird looks on their faces. They hadn't expected his interference. And still, Leo didn't bend. The volume stayed exactly at the same point, making the feline frown and stand up. Her eyes shot a glare at Leo, before she trotted off in defeat. Leo, on the other hand, simply turned his attention back to the screen, not a single mine showing either victory or anything. But he could soon feel the pair of eyes holding their gaze on him, and he turned to look back at Don.

"What?"

Don didn't want to argue with his brother. It was probably the right thing to ask why he acted like he did, but Don didn't have the strength to carry on an argument for the time it could take to come to a solution. He simply shook his head and let his attention go to the TV instead.

Angel's feet hit the ground hard, as she walked hastily towards her room. She frowned to herself, angered that Leo behaved like he did. As she swept past Raph, her wing accidentally hit him.

"Hey, watch it," Raph growled. He had been on the way to his own room from the dojo, finding that he had gotten too tired from killing the punching bag.

"Bite me," the reply shot back, the feline not even caring to slow down or look back. Raph furrowed his browns, not letting Angel go so easily. He demanded an apology. With a quick step, he shot forward and grabbed the cat's arm to turn her around. But her response wasn't exactly what he had expected…


	7. Rage

**Sigh, school is simply taking too much of my time. I use most of the nights on reading Moby Dick for an assignment. And then I'm sore after practice... And need sleep. I am aware that this chapter is pretty short, but it will get better in the next chapter. I promise! But I'm sure none of you readers care for my bickering. I'm glad if anyone still follows the story, though I have a feeling that I have lost some of the readers. But to you still out there, **

**Enjoy...**

The two large doors slid open, a grey cloud emerging from them. Two taller figures stepped out from the glowing chamber, their eyes scanning the lair for life. Their eyes instantly fell on Leo and Don, who both looked back. They knew who was coming. No other than Casey and April knew the secret elevator, that the turtles had once discovered by pure accident. Casey walked over to the couch, resting his arms on the back.

"Yo," he greeted them both, noting their glooming faces, "Who died?" Don and Leo both looked at each other before turning their faces back to their human friend. How was they supposed to say what was going on? All of them had kept it completely to themselves, somehow afraid of the reactions – especially Casey's. Sure, Casey was a good friend, and they had known him for quite some time. But he wasn't the brightest, a fact that had sometimes caused both trouble and some pretty funny situations.

Splinter approached April, the walking cane tapping the floor lightly as he walked.

"Good evening, Miss O'Neil," Splinter gestured, looking into the woman's green eyes, "For what do we have the honor of your visit?" April reached out to her back pocket in the worn out jeans she was wearing, fishing out a newspaper clip out.

"I actually came to speak with Don," she showed Splinter the article, "I thought perhaps this could have something to do with the blackouts, you guys have had." The old rat studied the paper, reading every word in a short time. It hadn't been a large article, something that the press had just barely pushed into a page where they had found room for it.

_Rats going berserk in NY sewers_

It hadn't been in the local news on the TV. Perhaps they didn't see it as such a big problem, as the rats were staying in the sewers – at least the "crazy" ones. Sewer workers had been attacked by these rats, when they had tried to do their job. They hadn't been in packs, it had sometimes been perhaps only one suddenly going for a bite at them. Splinter scratched his chin. Could this perhaps be even more important to them than it actually seemed? Letting his eyes go up from the paper clip, Splinter was about to handle it back to April, when he suddenly sensed a danger. He had to be quick. His sixth sense told him to move out of the way and he pushed April with him, barely getting her out of reach of Raphael flying past them. He flung across the room, skidding over the floor on his shell. Barely before he stopped, he pushed himself to his feet and rushed back in the direction he had come from. His eyes flashed, and Splinter knew that look: It was a blinded rage, filling out Raphael's mind and pushing all logical sense behind. And he was going for Angel.

"Raphael!" Splinter cried, fearing for the cat's sake. But before he could react, Angel was already at Raphael's throat, her claws drawn out to attack with full force – and she had the same look in her eyes. With a hiss, the feline swiped a claw at Raph, leaving deep scratching marks over his plastron. But he didn't notice. The adrenalin rushing through his veins made him forget all about pain. Instead, he thrusted a sai forward, aiming for Angel's stomach. As she sidestepped, the deadly weapon flung through her fur, ripping some of the flesh along and left a bloody trail over her side. Blood dripped on the floor from both opponents, as the sai suddenly hit a wing and Angel's claws found a mark at Raph's neck.

Suddenly Raph was grabbed from behind. But without turning to see who it was, Raph tried to jump forward to deliver another strike, but his arms were pulled tightly backwards.

"Raph, snap out of it," Leo hissed, trying his best to hold on to his brother's arm. Don was holding the other one. It was like holding a raging beast. Angel wasn't slow to react. Her claw reached up to attack once again.

Casey threw himself at her, slamming the cat against the wall to hold her. But she proved to be stronger than he had expected. His legs trembled, as he was pushed backwards. But no one was going to win that easily over Casey Jones. With a snarl, he pushed the feline back with all of his might, once again straining her to the wall.

Splinter stood in front of his son, looking into his eyes. This would take drastic measures. Or perhaps…Splinter grabbed a vase on a small counter and pulled out the flowers, tossing the water into Raph's face. April had had the same thought and had brought a glass of water from the kitchen, which she tossed into Angel's face.

Raph frowned, shaking his head to try and shake off the water. It was like realization hit him at that moment. The two sais dropped to the floor as his hands grew limp. His eyes starred at Angel for a moment, who was calm as well. Her eyes were closed tightly, as she seemed to recover from the fight. However, Casey was still holding her, unsure if it was really safe to let go of her. As the grips around his arms lightened, Raph fell to his knees, his breathing rapid from the fight. His eyes were fixated at the floor, as he tried to somehow find out what had actually happened. He had lost control. The fight wasn't even fresh in his memory, all he could remember was bits of the events. Like it had only been a bad dream.

Don placed a hand on Raph's shell, feeling how the turtle's body was trembling. It was too surrealistic.

Michelangelo stood in the doorway to his room, looking at the scene. He had come out upon hearing the commotion, but had stood motionless without knowing what to do throughout the fight. He took a step forward, feeling a knot grow in his throat. The blood on the floor had been dragged out into long trails from the feet running over it. As he looked to Raph, he could see the thin stream of blood running from his neck and land on the floor like drops of water. And Angel? Casey was standing in the way for Mikey to see the slash, but he knew it was there. He could see the bloodstains in Angel's fur, running down her leg.

If it hadn't been for Casey holding her, the feline would have fallen. A sickening feeling made her almost collapse, as the human made her sit down. She slid down the wall, her injured wing leaving red marks on the stone. Her hand reached up to cover for her mouth. It couldn't have been her doing that. She didn't dare look at Raph, afraid that her stomach would turn around at the sight of her friend sitting bleeding on the floor. A sob escaped her throat. It wasn't her intention to hurt him. Suddenly it had just snapped.

As he slowly placed the vase on the floor, Splinter kneeled down to look his son into the eyes. But the turtle instantly avoided his sensei's gaze, closing his eyes and turned his head the other way.


	8. Child's Play

I am aware that it has taken some time for me to post this chapter, and for that I am truly sorry. I had to take my mind off it shortly to gain some new inspiration. But thanks to all of you who still follows and reviews - it means alot to me.

* * *

Michelangelo's eyes went from the window in the large vehicle to look at the other passengers around him. Soft blips could be heard from the video game in his hands, as he had forgotten to pause it. Each of them was minding their own business and no words were shared amongst them. Casey was sitting behind the wheel in the Battle Shell, as it drove over the bumpy roads on its way to Casey's old farmhouse in North Hampton. Things had been packed rather quickly, and the young turtle understood why. His father and master was trying to get them away from New York to prevent another fight between the teenagers of the sewer lair. Angel and Raphael had been close to killing each other, and Splinter feared that there was some kind of connection between their mood swing and the rats going berserk. He hadn't read the paper clip, but Splinter had explained it briefly. And now he was stuck here, in his seat while waiting for the old farm to smile to him in the distance. The trip to Massachusetts was simply too long for a teenage turtle – especially, when the game he was holding wasn't keeping him amused. Why was it? He looked down at the machine, seeing the "Game over" flash on the screen. He usually loved video games, but now it was the last thing he wanted to do. Turning the thing off, his eyes caught sight of a bird flying above the vehicle and slowly got farther away from them. How he wished he could be that bird and get away from it all. The situation between him and his family was tense, but it was still better than what it had been home in the lair. After the fight between his brother and Angel, no one had really talked to each other, maybe because they were afraid of doing something they would regret – no one was acting like themselves… And still, Michelangelo had packed down the game console in his hands. He hadn't been advised by his sensei. Perhaps it had been a reflex, or it could have been something inside his mind still being intact- Damn, he was sounding like Don! The thought made him chuckle lowly to himself though. He had always taken his brother's intelligence for granted, not really thinking about how things would be without the wits of the ninja. As for now, Don was sitting with his beak firmly stuck into a book with sudoku that he had brought with him, desperately trying to solve even the easiest of them. But judging from his face, it wasn't going too smoothly. 

Suddenly something smiled to him in the distance, and Michelangelo blinked. A sign coming their way, telling them that the boring carried would be over soon. Finally some light in the horizon. Being a bit happier, Mikey decided on giving his video game another chance. He quickly switched it on, hearing the familiar sound of the game starting up. And it actually was a bit of fun now. Not as much as usual, but it was enough to make him keep his focus on the small screen for the rest of the drive.

"Mikey, we're here," April bend down to look over his shoulder for some attention. Mikey blinked at her confused. It couldn't have been half an hour since… could it? Had the time really gone by that fast? It seemed like it, and the teenager shut off the power and stuck the machine down into his belt and followed April along with the bag he had packed. Carrying it upstairs, he suddenly remembered one thing – they were all going to sleep in the same room. How would that work out? He placed the large bag on one of the madras's, seeing that Leo had went to find pillows and blankets in the closet, while the rest of the group carried their things upstairs as well.

The second floor was suddenly crowded, as the four turtles and the cat were all there. And it was at that time, Leo turned around with the pillows and threw one for each of them, which most of them caught – most of them!

Raph turned to see the pillow come flying at him and only had time to open his mouth, before it hit him square in the face with a thud. The floor was silent. Even though his brother's rage had eased a lot during the car trip, how could they be sure if he was calm enough to take an apology.

"Leo…" Raphael growled and narrowed his eyes, taking one step back. Don and Mikey weren't sure if they should jump in or not. Raph had a gleam in his eyes, which could only mean one thing…

"PILLOW FIIIIGHT!" Raph charged at his blue masked brother with his pillow, hitting Leo on the arm as the older brother tried to dodge. In a weak attempt of a counterattack, Leo swung the pillow and hit Mikey instead, who immediately caught the chance for an opening. He got a good hold on his own pillow and jumped into the fight, and soon five teenagers and feathers were flying through the air, as they tried to fight each other.

Running up the stairs, Splinter, Casey and April stopped dead in their tracks at the sight before them, as they reached the upper floor. They had expected another vicious fight, but the only ones getting harmed here were the poor pillows. They all seemed to have forgotten their problems for a while.

The three of them stood in ave, admiring the ongoing fight. April shock her head, as she chuckled to herself, and Splinter scratched his chin momentarily.

"Kids…" he muttered and turned around to walk down the stairs again. He was releaved that it hadn't been more than kids play. After all, they were only kids-

"GOONGALAH!"

Aaaand Casey joined the fight, but what could one expect from him…?


	9. Snakes of Hide and Seek

I am so sorry for the wait. I guess I'm just working too much, while I still have to do my homeowrk for school. And the teachers have been really mean lately. I've never had this many assignments the entire year! And I have an exam in less than a month, though I'm not particularly worried about the outcome. I'm pretty confident, that i will pass with a reasonable grade. But off to the story. And to the two or three people actually reading, thanks for all the reviews. If it wasn't for you, I wouldn't keep posting these...

* * *

The wind made the grass and the leaves on the trees wave slowly back and forth. The constant breeze on the turtle's green bare skin reminded him of his whereabouts constantly. How was one supposed to concentrate on anything at a moment like that? 

Raphael inhaled the fresh country air silently. Nature in its finest, purest form…

"Oww," Mikey suddenly whined, making both Raph and his two brothers open one eye to peek at whatever had caused the interruption. Of course, they could have told themselves exactly what had happened.

Master Splinter had a firm grip on his wooden cane, as he looked down at his youngest son rubbing his head.

"My son," the rat said, "You are not focusing."

"I am trying," Mikey whined stubbornly. He looked up at his sensei with big pleading eyes. Apparently, the ninja had had just as many problems concentrating as Raph had – he just wasn't good enough to keep it hidden.

With a loud sigh, Splinter eased the grab on his cane and looked at all four turtles. He could tell that most of them had lost their focus, though Michelangelo had been the only one wriggling his toes while smiling happily. Maybe it was the fresh air, or perhaps the fact that they had all finally gotten out of the tense lair. The four teenagers seemed full of energy, which proved to make meditation a bit more complicated than usual. Even Leonardo had trouble keeping his mind in focus, but he managed to keep it, none the less.

"We will continue later today," Splinter stated and turned around, walking away from his four students, who all had their eyes wide open. Finally recess. Mikey jumped up with a large grin on his face.

"Alright," he cheered and did a back flip, "Who's up for a game?" The three remaining turtles got up in a standing position, looking at their brother.

"Sure, I'm in," Raph nodded and the nods continued with Leo and Don. A game was exactly what they needed to blow off some energy.

"I say we play hide and seek," Mike went on, standing still for a few seconds as he seemed to be in deep thoughts. The ninja closed his eyes, but suddenly took a step forward and smacked Raph on the shoulder. "You're it!" Don grinned to himself.

"I'm gonna ask Angel if she wants to play too," he stated and ran up to the farm house. He knew that this meant less time to find a good hiding spot near the farm, but leaving the cat behind would be a bit cruel. Don entered the house and looked around, noticing the weak sound of voices from the kitchen. He walked into the kitchen, finding April and Angel inside. April had placed herself over the kitchen table, as she was preparing some vegetables for tonight's dinner. Angel, on the other hand, sat on a chair not too far away with a glass of milk in her hand.

"Already making dinner?" Don questioned and approached the two girls, wondering why Angel wasn't helping with the preparations.

"Yeah," April looked up, "And learning some important lessons at the same time." Don blinked, looking from one girl to the other. Cooking wasn't his main area. In fact he was pretty much a disaster in a kitchen, but how many important lessons would there be to the art of cooking.

"Cats can't cook," April answered Don's unspoken question, and the turtle laughed.

"I could have told you that," he looked at Angel and crossed his arms. The feline's ears went down, as she looked up at the turtle.

"I tried," she replied, her fingers playing with the glass.

"I find it quite difficult to understand, how you can burn boiled eggs," April mused and stretched, leaving the carrots on the table alone for a few seconds. Don blinked. Was that possible?

"Eh," the turtle scratched his head, "April, you wouldn't mind me burrowing your – helper, would you?"

"No, I'm pretty sure I can handle it."

Angel gulped down the glass of milk and got up from the chair, following Don outside. It was a big relief to get out of the kitchen.

"So, what was it that you wanted?" Angel asked.

"Oh, right," Don smiled, "We just wanted to know if you wanted to play a game of hide and seek. We've already started and Raph's it." Angel smiled eagerly and the two teenagers quickly jumped in different directions to find a good hiding place.

Don had only run a few meters, as he suddenly stopped by an old worn out car, but decided against using it as a hiding place. It had to be something that he could silently sneak out of, in case Raph came too close…

Not too far away, Leo jolted forward from behind a tree. He had decided to use the forest as his disguise for the game. He silently jumped up into a treetop and looked out from between the leaves. He could hear footsteps nearby. Was Raph already out to look for them?

'Cheater,' Leo mouthed with a small grin, as he tried to get a better view of the forest ground. Listening to the small thuds on the ground, his brother was running. Had he seen him already? Leo was about to jump for the next tree, when his eyes caught the movement of the figure. His younger brother almost flew over the muddy terrain – and luckily, it wasn't his hot headed sibling. It was only Mikey, who had gotten the same idea as Leo and was trying to find a good spot amongst the vegetation. An idea popped into Leo's mind instantly and an evil grin spread on his beak. He had collected some small stones to use if Raph came after him to try and direct him in the opposite direction by throwing the stones into a nearby bush. He wasn't sure if Raphael would fall for the fake sound, but at least it was worth a shot. As of now, one of the small pebbles could be used for something more amusing. Having a firm grip on one of the small stones, Leonardo quickly threw it and hit Mikey on the shell.

"Aaargh!" Mikey screamed and spun around, ready to fling out his nunchakus. But as he looked behind him, he was alone. Well, except for the laughter above him.

"Huh?" the turtle looked up, seeing Leo grin down on him, "Leo, that's not funny."

"Sure it is," Leo dried away a tear after he had tried to muffle down his grin as much as possible, especially since Mikey's girlie scream had probably given away their location already. And true, he could hear a new padding of feet on the grass, running fast towards them. Raph was on their track, which was mostly Leo's fault, but… They hadn't had this much fun in such a long time, so he was sure that there were no hard feelings between Mikey and him – though there were _never_ any hard feelings between Mikey and anyone.

No time to just sit around and smile sheepishly. Leo jolted off the thick branch, jumping through the forest tree tops in an attempt to escape. He wouldn't give Raph the joy of being the first to get caught, at least not so early in the game. He could only hope that Mikey had had enough time to scoot away, so he wouldn't be caught yet, though Leo seriously doubted that catching Mikey would be an easy task. It never had been.

Leo jumped out of the forest and looked back. Didn't sound like Raph had followed him out there. But something else was near. Leo twirled around, scanning his surroundings. It wasn't just his imagination. It was like being watched by a predator, lurking somewhere in the tall grass. The turtle kept moving, walking closer to the small river running not too far away. Had Raph followed him, and was not sitting watching before he would strike? A ruffle in the grass made Leo almost jump, as he spun his head around. The turtle held his breath. He was not alone.

With a sigh, Leo smiled to himself. He was getting competition. His eyes had fallen on something in the grass, moving from side to side. He padded towards it, knowing full well that it had seen him.

"Your tail is sticking out."

The tail stopped moving and suddenly moved into the grass, as the owner stood up to look back.

"It is?" Angel looked down, picking up the tail, "Typical…"

Leo mused a bit. The feline had apparently learned a lot from the training sessions, though it still needed perfection. Especially considered the fact that she had a set of wings and a large fluffy tail to control, where Leo and his brothers were a bit luckier at that point.

"So, has Raph found you yet?" Angel asked, picking out some small piece of greenery from the fur in her tail.

"Not yet," Leo admitted. It had been a close call, but that was what made this fun. His attention trailed back to the forest. Raph hadn't followed him. If he had, he would have been out by now, revealed by the sunlight.

A shriek suddenly came from beside him, but before he could react, Angel was already behind his back, her hands holding tightly around his shoulders.

"What?" Leo asked, ready to draw his katana and defend them. But what could have been the cause of Angel's cry?

"A snake just crawled over my foot," the feline blinked, "It was long and slimy and-"

"Then it wasn't a snake," Leo couldn't help but chuckle, as he pried the yellow hands off and bend down, brushing the grass to the side. Don had once told him that snakes weren't slimy, but dry. Unless they were sick. Leo couldn't remember it all, but whatever it was, it had moved on. He stood up, walking over to the river and waited by the edge, having Angel follow him close behind.

"It was to," she defended herself, not sure how Leo could take this so calmly. What if it had bitten her? What if it was poisonous? She stood behind Leo, looking over his shoulder. The turtle seemed to be waiting for something jump out of the grass. And something did. A long, wet thing slipped from the edge and plopped into the water, swimming downwards.

"It's an eel," Leo explained, straightening up, "They can be up on land for a shorter period of time." Angel blinked. It had really looked like a snake to her. But she had never seen a real snake, all she had seen was the pictures in Don's books. The feline kneeled down and let a finger tough the water, small rings forming on the surface.

"Is it a fish?"

"Yeah," Leo smiled. He wasn't that much into biology, but he knew Don had told him once that eels could be kept as pets. Weird thought, but the subject had been taken on when they were younger and Mikey was pleading Splinter to get a pet. At some point, it hadn't mattered to the young turtle what pet he got. He just wanted one, and Don had decided on investigating all options. And though Splinter had tried to tell them that he wouldn't agree to it, his brainy brother had made a list of pets that could be kept in small containers. And one had been the eel, though he had forgotten at that point to think about how big some of them could get, and it ended with Mikey not getting any pet at all. Perhaps this one was a freed pet, or it belonged here. He had no idea where they lived naturally.

Angel lifted her hand again and dried it off on her leg. The eel was long gone now.

"So, you think Raph found any of the others?" Angel stood up. They had both momentarily forgotten the game of hide and seek, when the "snake" suddenly attacked. And Leo wasn't really sure. His brothers were good at hiding, but also at tracking. Which meant that Raph would soon get down to the river, when he had been through the rest of the area.

Leo wasn't sure, but he knew Raph would still be looking for them. They hadn't been down by the river for that long. They should get going. They were too easy a target out here in the open.

"Maybe," Leonardo replied after a short while in his own thoughts, "Let's go, maybe we're too hard to find."

Angel chuckled lightly, and the two ran back into the forest, though keeping a distance to each other. There was always the possibility, that Raph would catch sight on one of them, and then maybe the other one as well.

Leo suddenly stopped. Something had cracked right ahead of him, someone maybe stepping on a stick. He jumped upwards, grabbing hold on a branch above him. His eyes flickered around. Where was Angel? The feline was already gone, hiding somewhere in the woods. She had been quick to learn.

'_A little too quick,_' Leo couldn't help but think it. Everything had been taken in so easily, he couldn't believe that what she had learned in months, he had used years to learn. Perhaps the girl had potential.

No, it couldn't be that simple, could it? Only one thing was sure, Leo would never want an enemy like Angel, in case she was just as good as seeing weaknesses as she was at learning. Scary thought. And wrong. Angel was no enemy, she was their friend. Family. Leo looked down, seeing Raphael speed past the tree he was in. Hadn't he seen him?

_Thud!_

Raph suddenly jumped up the tree next to him and made a swing towards Leo's tree, landing almost beside him.

"And you're saying I'm unfocused?" the red-masked turtle smirked, giving his older brother a wink Leo could only laugh at. He had been a little unfocused, but maybe Raph was just more focused than usual. The fresh air and getting away from the sewers had done good for all of them.

"So, how many have you caught?" Leo awaited his fate. If he was the first one to be seen, Mikey and Raph would have something to laugh about for a good time.

"Everyone, actually," Raphael shrugged. That had to be a good sign, right?

"Besides, dinner's ready," the turtle continued, jumping off the tree and landing steadily on the ground, "Don't know about you, but I'm off to get something to eat. If you wanna stay here and play nature boy, be my guest. That just means more food for me."

Leo landed behind Raph and moved, hitting Raph on the shoulder as he passed him.

"Race you there," Leo called back without stopping and it didn't take Raph long to recover, speeding after his brother.


End file.
